RIVER FOREST, Ill. --- The Concordia University Chicago women's volleyball team (6-10, 1-4) hosted the Aurora University Spartans (13-6, 5-0) Tuesday night in Geiseman Gymnasium. Too much Spartan firepower and not enough late-set magic was the storyline of the night, as Aurora won the match 3-0.
Inside the Box Score
- Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) and Katie Stonich (Sadieville, Ky.) each had eight kills. Heywood led the team with five total blocks: one solo and four block assists.
- Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) tallied 22 assists, which is her third consecutive 20+ assist match.
- Julia Beers (Mishawaka, Ind.) led the team with 17 digs. The senior libero now has double-digit digs in thirteen matches this season.
Set 1 consisted of several long rallies and back-and-forth play.
Katie Stonich (Sadieville, Ky.) led CUC's offense with four kills and tallied six digs. Stonich finished the night tied for a team-high eight kills with
Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.). The Cougars found themselves down 18-14, but put together a strong volley to win the point and regain some momentum. Following a timeout after going down 22-17, the Cougars went on a four-point run to bring the set within one, 22-21. Aurora fended off the late CUC comeback and won the set, 25-22.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 9-0 lead in Set 2.
Kate Foley (Milwaukee, Wis.) ended Aurora's run with her second kill of the night, which led to a three-point stretch for CUC. The freshman outside hitter finished the night with five kills, which is a new season-high in conference play this season. With the score at 14-7 in favor of Aurora, CUC relied on strong defense and timely attacks to keep them within striking distance.
Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) picked up her first kill of the match, which made it a 14-8 deficit.
The next point,
McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.) and
Katie Schrems (South Bend, Ind.) teamed up for a big-time double block, to make it 14-9. The Spartans silenced the Cougars' resurgence with an eight-point run. Aurora controlled the remainder of the set and won, 25-13.
CUC found their grove at the beginning of Set 3 and looked as if they had the Spartans figured out. Heywood smashed home her sixth kill of the night, which gave CUC their first lead since Set 1, 5-4. The lead was short-lived, as Aurora's Dani Lauer (
New Lenox, Ill.) went on the attack for her fifth kill, and ended the night with ten.
Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.), who directed most of the Cougar offense in the match, reached into the bag of tricks for her third kill of the night, which cut the Spartans' lead to one point, 8-7.
Aurora handled CUC's final attacks in the set and went on to win, 25-18, and the match 3-0.
The Cougars are back in action Friday, October 7, at 7 p.m. against Marian University. Prior to the match, students and fans are encouraged to attend the homecoming pep rally at 4 p.m. in the North Gym. Coverage of the match can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
